Denmark: Rockwool has said that its results for 2014 were negatively affected by the devaluation of the Russian Rouble and that Russia will continue to impact its results for some time to come. Its turnover, however, increased by 9% year-on-year to Euro2.18bn, whereas earnings before interest and taxes (EBIT) fell by 4% to Euro161m. Post-tax profit decreased to Euro112m from Euro116m in 2013. Rockwool expects its net sales growth in 2015 to be slightly positive and EBIT to reach around Euro150m.

US: Johns Manville (JM) has announced a significant upgrade to its nonwoven glass mat production plant in Waterville, Ohio. Beginning in late 2015, JM will upgrade an existing nonwoven mat line with advanced manufacturing technology that will allow it to better serve customers in growing segments of the global specialty glass mat market. JM anticipates the upgraded production line will be fully operational in early 2016.

"Our upgraded Waterville plant will enable JM to provide global product capability between Europe and the Americas and to deliver global product consistency with regional availability," said Tanya Bradby, portfolio leader of Nonwovens America.

Belgium: Kingspan has acquired full control of the industrial insulation products joint venture that it shares with Belgium's Recticel. Previously, the two groups each owned 50% of Kingspan Tarec Industrial Insulation (KTII). Kingspan has now taken full control of KTII via an estimated Euro8.5m purchase.

Kingspan and Recticel launched their joint venture in 2006, combining their respective industrial insulation businesses in the process. KTII is a niche operator, producing premium performance pipe insulation products for petrochemical operations and the cool truck industry. The business had revenues of around Euro31m in 2014.

Turkey/Luxembourg: Armacell International SA, a Luxembourg-based provider of insulation foams for the equipment insulation market, has acquired OneFlex, a Turkey-based manufacturer of insulation materials for building technology. OneFlex generated a revenue of US$11.2m in 2014. The acquisition will allow Armacell to strengthen its production capabilities and position in Turkey and to expand its footprint across the regions of Middle East, Africa and South-eastern Europe.